


The Rowan

by BluePlanetTrash



Series: Voltron Wing AUs [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Wings, Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Insecure Lance (Voltron), Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance (Voltron)-centric, M/M, Rowan Lance, Secrets, Winged Paladins, Wingfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-07
Updated: 2017-12-07
Packaged: 2019-02-11 21:41:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12944532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BluePlanetTrash/pseuds/BluePlanetTrash
Summary: It was common on Earth for humans to grow up with wings. It was equally as common for humans to grow up without wings. In a world where it seemed like everyone was accepted, why were people like Lance considered monsters?





	1. Chapter 1

Lance watched his teammate’s fly around the nest he was laying in. They set up the nest in the hanger’s rafters so they could easily go up there after missions and still have plenty of room to fly around when they were traveling through space. He found it funny; when he first met each of them in the Garrison he was puzzled by their wings but now that they were in space, it all made sense. Shiro soared above him, his black and white speckled wings stretched out to either side of him. Unlike usual, he looked completely relaxed as the air blew through his fringe.

He dodged neatly to the side when Keith shot up from underneath him, trying to knock him off course. They laughed and circled each other in mock fight formation. The red, yellow, and orange wing beat wildly trying to make up for the sheer size that Shiro’s wings had over his own. He laid his head on his arms to look over the side of the nest when they fell into a nosedive towards the floor.

Hunk and Pidge both shriek and dove out of the way, Hunk’s chocolate brown and golden wing instinctually covered Pidge even though they were already standing on the ground. She huffed and pushed the limb off as Hunk gave sheepish apologies. She only gave him a fond grin but looked up at Shiro and Keith with an annoyed glare, which they didn’t notice as they were still chasing each other around the hanger. Her emerald green wings snapped up and she gave chase, surprising the two at her speed. Hunk laughed and gave a powerful beat and was gliding alongside the others. Lance looked on with a smile, he loved seeing his friends fly. They were able to forget about where they were and what they were meant to do and just became kids again.

‘Maybe it’s time to tell them the truth,’ Lance thought with a small frown. It had been months since they came to the Castle and they had undoubtedly bonded as not only a team but closer to a family. He heard the sound of soft flapping and looked behind him to see his team with ruffled feathers and carefree smiles on their faces.

‘No time like the present, I guess,’ he turned to them with a smile.

“How come you didn’t join us?” Shiro asked curiously trying to stroke his feathers into place. Lance looked down with a nervous gulp and started wringing his hands together.

“I was actually thinking of that right now,” he said. Looking up he saw that he had every paladin’s attention. He pressed his hands together to try and stop them from trembling.

“What is it?” Hunk asked. His forehead was creased in worry as he looked at his best friend. Not even he had seen Lance’s wings and he had known him the longest out of everyone. Not by much, they met the first year of the Garrison but still.

“I-um,” he mumbled trying to work up the courage. It wasn’t supposed to be this hard, he trusted them and he wanted them to know.

“It’s okay Lance, we’ll understand,” Shiro said encouragingly with a small grin on his face.

“I- I’m wingless,” he finally blurted out.

‘Shit,’ he thought. He cautiously looked up at his teammates and almost cringed at the pity that was plan on their faces. They all rushed forward, engulfing him in a hug and began chirping and cooing at him in comfort. He sighed into the group and after a while ducked down out of it. Although being wingless wasn’t uncommon, they still felt guilty that they had been flying around carelessly while he was grounded.

“Lance… I am so sorry,” Shiro said after a moment of silence. The others nodded in agreement looking heartbroken at Lance. He gave them a single shrug and slightly turned away from them.

“It’s alright I guess, I’ve lived with it my entire life,” he stated softly. He walked to the edge of the nest and made to get out.

“Where are you going?” Keith asked. Lance turned to them and gestured to the door at ground floor.

“I’m pretty beat, I’m going to crash for the night,” he replied with a shrug.

“You could sleep up here,” Pidge suggested looking at the rest of the team. They nodded and looked at Lance with hope. He bit his lip and looked away.

“I would but I, uh, have to shower and do a face mask and stuff still,” Lance replied shooting finger guns at them to their disappointment. He felt guilty as their wings drooped slightly.

“Maybe if I’m not too tired I’ll come back after I’m done,” he sighed. They immediately perked up again with a smile. He headed for the ladder attached to the beam and shrieked in surprise when arms lifted him up and began descending to the ground. He glanced up and saw Shiro grinning down at him. He gently placed him on the ground and ruffled his hair.

“I hope I see you later,” he said before taking off again back up to the nest. He nodded even though he knew that Shiro couldn’t see him and trudged out of the hanger.

* * *

“What the hell is wrong with me?” Lance growled at himself as he turned the water in the shower on. He paced in front of the mirror and wrung his hands together in agitation.

“Wingless?! Really?” He groaned dragging his hands down his face. He faced the shower and grasped the hem of his shirt and carefully peeled it over his head. He carefully unwrapped the bandages wrapped around his torso and let the cloth slide down his feathers. He sighed and ran his fingers through the dull blue feathers and looked in the mirror. He winced as the ache in his joints when he lifted and flexed the four wings on his back.

Not two.

Four.

As far as he knew he was only the third person to ever have four wings. The first he came to find, told the world of his condition believing himself to be descended from a god. Ultimately he was captured by the government and experimented on to find out more about his mutation. The second was a newborn girl who was taken away from her mother the minute she was born.

She didn’t make it to her second birthday.

The government dubbed anyone with four wings as a rowan.They found that that the wings were far more durable than normal wings almost as strong as a military grade armour. When they seemed threatened they turned into sharp and hardened like steel, it rendered them incapable of flight but the feathers were razor sharp. This is what made the government so wary of rowans. That and the fact that the first subject immediately attacked them after he transformed his wings this way. However, it was after months and months of merciless experimentation.

Lance was lucky and blessed to have been born to a very large and loyal family. He had his mother and registered midwife of an Aunt to thank for being born in the family home instead of in the hospital. He was registered as being wingless from the moment he was born and grew up being carefully monitored and maintained his whole life. Not that he minded much, he knew the danger he could potentially face if he was ever found out.

They couldn’t keep him locked away for long and relented when he decided to apply to the Garrison. Thanks to his distantly related Uncle who worked as a medical examiner he was able to get in and confirmed as wingless. He may have been lying to the government but hey, they lie all the time and no one gives them shit about it.

He knew that he could potentially be in a lot of danger for doing this but it felt like something that he needed to do. Maybe one day, he would become a famous explorer and he could become an advocator for rowans, just like him. That is if there were people like him on Earth. He looked mournfully at his tangled and muted feathers and wanted nothing more to soar through the air with his new family but he wasn’t sure what they would do. They were all still members of the military and were constantly briefed on what to do if they ever encountered a rowan in the field. He missed feeling the wind in his feathers though, he hadn’t had the chance to fly since he joined the Garrison.

He sighed and climbed into the shower letting the warm water wash away his thoughts. He couldn’t exactly go back to the nest tonight and tell everyone that he wasn’t wingless but actually a rowan. It would be too much for them to process. He would just have to wait a little bit longer until he knew for sure what they thought of him. He smiled at his plan and decided that it was the best course of action for now. If only to make himself feel more comfortable with the situation. After a half hour, he got out of the shower and attempted to dry off. He shook his feathers slightly trying to rid them of water but stopped when they started to sting from overuse. He sighed and locked his door in case anyone tried to get him in the middle of the night, he would have to leave them uncovered to dry properly and wrap them again in the morning. He carefully laid on his stomach and propped his head up to look at the door. Deep down he wished one of his teammates would come and ask if he was going to join them but he knew that they would be busy enough grooming each other’s wings to worry about him.

* * *

Usually recon missions went very well for them, all things considered. When your bones were light enough to step without making noises and were able to quickly fly out of a galran’s visual range, it was quite hard to detect them. Because of this they usually didn’t have a contingency plan prepared if something went awry.

“We’re pinned, Shiro!” Keith yelled into the coms. The sound of Keith’s bayard slicing and shots from Hunk’s cannon were loud in the background.

“Everyone head to Hunk and Keith’s location if you’re able,” Shiro commanded.

“Roger,” Lance said in response, he turned from his own defeated sentries and headed towards their position. They were lucky that this particular outpost was occupied only by sentries and drones as it had been abandoned by the Galra a long time ago.

“I’m close guys,” he heard Pidge say. Looking at the schematics of the base, he could see that Shiro made it to them and Pidge was heading down the corridor to join them, making Lance the furthest away. He sighed when he noticed that they had been corralled in what looked to be a sealed storage hanger and the only exit was the way they went in. He gritted his teeth and leaned forward into a full sprint determined to help his teammates. He could hear their laboured breathing and pain grunts as they took hits from the sentries.

“There’s too many of them!” Pidge yelled out in panic. He darted around the corner clutching his bayard tightly in his hands. The minutes felt like hours as he rushed through the halls, the sound of his teams panicked yells and shouts of pain. He froze when he saw the state that his team was fighting in. It almost felt like he was watching the scene in slow motion. Pidge’s foot being grabbed as she tried in vain to fly away and being slammed into the ground. Hunk trying desperately to shoot away the sentries but being tackled mid shot. Keith swinging his sword wildly and the look of surprise when he was punched in the jaw; and Shiro, oh Shiro. He was already on the ground and was absolutely covered in them, he swung his arm taking out sentries left and right but he was still trying to drag himself over to protect the others.

It only took a split second for Lance to take all of it in and begin storming towards the opening. Without thought, he banished his bayard away from him and began running towards the entrance. There must have been almost one hundred sentries activated, maybe more but he wasn’t about to falter.

“Lance! Run!” Shiro shouted when he noticed the paladin coming closer to the battle. At his voice, the sentries turned their attention to the newly arriving human. The marks on their body gave an ominous red glow as they began running at Lance. The others began struggling anew, wanting desperately to help their friend. The one they thought would be more helpless than them because he was wingless.

“Lance!” They screamed out in terror for him. Their eyes widened in shock when the back of his armour shattered and metallic looking wings burst out. He twisted around with the wings pushed out. They sliced clean through the first line of robots. They watched in shocked awe as Lance twirled around with his wings spread, destroying sentries in a deathly dance. As the last one fell he faced away from them, his wings lifted.

“Rowan,” Pidge breathed out in shock. The wings dropped in realization and Lance looked over his shoulder at them.

“I’m sorry,” is all he said before he ran away from them. They leapt up ready to follow close behind him but Shiro held out his hand for them to stop. They looked at him in confusion.

“We need to give him a little time, just enough for him to settle,” he said. They reluctantly agreed and walked out of the hanger.

* * *

After exiting their lions, they decided that they had to look for Lance. It wasn’t that difficult since they found his abandoned chest plate near the rafter ladder. They landed in the nest and saw Lance huddled in a ball at the other side of the nest. Without the metallic sheen on Lance’s feathers, they could see how lifeless and messy the wings really were.

Without a word, they all cuddled up against Lance. Shiro and Hunk on each side and Keith and Pidge in front of him. They didn’t need to say anything to him, and they didn’t need his explanation. They already understood why he was afraid to tell them. They could feel Lance begin to tremble between them and start to let out small sobs between breaths. Hunk gave a small smile and cradled Lance’s head against his shoulder. After an hour of silent comforting, Shiro laid a hand on Lance’s wing and carefully folded it out over his lap. Lance abandoned Hunk’s shoulder to look at him in confusion. Shiro grinned at him and began brushing his hand through his feathers, gently untangling them.

“You don’t have to Shiro,” Lance mumbled.

“I want to Lance,” He replied grabbing Lance’s cheek in his palm. “Let me do this for you,”

“I want to too,” Hunk said excited and carefully draped his other top wing onto his lap. Lance’s head whipped to Hunk’s side again in shock.

“No arguments either,” he said when he saw Lance begin to open his mouth. He gave Hunk a pout but obeyed.

“Me too,” Pidge grinned reaching for his lower wings. He didn’t even try to put up a fight this time, even when Keith mumbled something and got to work on the last one.

“Thank you,” he said gratefully. He rested his chin on his folded arms as he leaned on the edge of the nest. He wasn’t sure if he could look at any of them without bursting into tears, so he looked down at where he could see Blue instead.

“Maybe after this, we can go flying?” Pidge suggested. The rest of the paladins nodded their heads but this time they all turned to Lance as well. At their silence, he turned just enough to see them.

“Um, I haven’t exactly flown since I joined the Garrison,” he stated sheepishly.

“Well, then it’s about time you stretched your wings then isn’t it?” Hunk smiled.

“I guess it is,” he smiled back after a moment’s hesitation. Everyone gave a small cheer and got back to their jobs. Just as careful as before but now with a sense of urgency. Lance beamed down at Blue, feeling absolute love for and from the people around him. He couldn’t be any more lucky and blessed than he was right now.


	2. Chapter 2

“Are you sure about this?” Lance asked sweating heavily. He looked over the tall cliff, down at the barely visible ground beneath them. They had dragged Lance out of the Castle and found the highest point on the planet. He looked distrustfully back at his friends and hunched his shoulders slightly. He imagined they were just going to toss him off the cliff and decide that was that.

“First, let’s see your wingspan,” Shiro said stepping closer behind Lance. With a sigh, he obeyed and spread his wings out as far as he could. There were some gasps from the others when they saw the newly groomed feathers in the sunlight. At this everyone spread out their wings. Hunk had the largest wings, followed by Shiro, and now Lance, Keith, than Pidge. Keith sent a pout Lance’s way, making him laugh and give him a wide grin.

“Are you sore anywhere?” Shiro asked smoothing his hands down the tops of his first set of wings. He blushed and looked over the tops of them to watch the leader. Shiro glanced up and raised a brow waiting for an answer. He cleared his throat and looked over the horizon.

“No, they feel pretty good just being out again,” he admitted flexing them slightly. Shiro hummed and kept grooming the wings absentmindedly.

“How was your flying before you stopped?” He asked this time. Lance’s feathers immediately puffed up in pride and he put his hands on his hips.

“Best flyer out of everyone in my family,” he said proudly with a grin, “and some of them went on to become aerial performers,” he bragged. Shiro looked back at Hunk, Keith, and Pidge with a little smile and gestured to his back and then the cliff. He got nods and thumbs up in response and he turned back to Lance. He clapped a hand down on his shoulder grabbing Lance’s attention.

“Well, it seems like you’ll be fine,” he said with a smile. Lance raised an eyebrow in confusion and looked behind himself to see the other three standing trying to look innocent.

“What do you me-ACK!” he started only to be cut off by Shiro grabbing him by the waist in the crook of his arm and jumping off the side of the cliff. With a cheer Hunk, Keith, and Pidge dove off the side of the cliff after them. Lance clawed at Shiro’s arm with a scream and felt tears falling from his eyes as the wind rushed passed them.

“I’m going to let you go now,” Shiro yelled calmly over the sound of air. Lance shook his head frantically and dug his fingernails into Shiro’s arm.

“SHIRO I SWEAR TO GOD!” He screamed. “I’M GOING TO KILL YOU IF YOU LET GO, I WASN’T READY!” With a deadpanned face, Shiro took his arm away from the blue paladin.

“Oops, she wasn’t ready,” he muttered snapping his wings open and leaving Lance to flail through the air.

“SHIRO YOU PIECE OF SHIT!” He shrieked. He looked down at the ground ignoring the tears that were flowing up his cheeks into his ears. He closed his eyes and tried to remember before he left home and was immediately greeted with memories of his family and flying with them. He peeked his eyes open and looked to the side, seeing his friends diving alongside him. It was time that he flew with his new family. He didn’t have anything to fear anymore, they were his family and he could trust them. He opened his wings open wide, the air immediately caught on them and his fall came to a stop leaving the other paladins to shoot past him. He laughed and flapped his wings to climb higher up.

“Lance you did it!” Pidge said happily as she flew up to meet him.  Lance gave her a little pout and crossed his arms.

“You doubted me?” He asked. Pidge rolled her eyes and punched him in the arm. He yelped and pretended to fall again, gaining a startled yelp from her. She fell after him with her arms open as if to catch him. He grinned and shot up again, grabbing her in his arms and falling to Hunk, Keith, and Shiro. When they got there, she batted his arms away from him and clawed her way out of his arms.

“Don’t do that, I thought you were going to die,” she mumbled crossly. Lance chuckled and circled around her.

“Sorry Pidge, I used to do that with my little sister back on Earth,” he explained twisting around in the sky. Her eyes widened and she cooed slightly.

“I guess it wasn’t that bad then,” she admitted with a small grin. Lance gave her a blinding smile back. He grunted when suddenly he pushed from behind, he righted himself quickly and looked behind his back to see Keith smirking slightly. Before he could realize what was happening, Keith dropped away and dove down to the ground. With a start, he realized that Keith wanted to play. He quickly dove after him and quickly caught up with him.

“Good try Keith,” he said and grabbed his leg stopping him in his motion. Keith yelped as he was knocked off course and Lance shot up into the sky. He let out a loud laugh and chased after him. Lance looked back at Keith and the happy, determined expression on his face. He led him around for a few minutes and laughed when he shot past him without a problem.

“ACK!” He grunted when smacked into a solid chest. He clung to it when his wings stopped moving and he looked up to look into Shiro’s face. He blushed and quickly righted himself so he could jump off of his chest.

“Sorry Shiro, I didn’t see you there,” he admitted rubbing the back of his neck.

“That’s fine Lance, it was kind of the point,” he laughed. Lance squinted his eyes in confusion but they widened when he felt a hand land a stinging slap between his wings.

“Traitor,” Lance whispered at Shiro. He stared into Shiro’s eyes with wide eyes as he slapped Shiro right on the pec and flew away.

“I’ll accept that,” he said to himself before he took off towards where Pidge and Hunk were leisurely flying around. At the focused frown on his face, they paused before Pidge screamed.

“ABORT!” She shouted and she and Hunk fell away from the paladin. He laughed and chased after them, after a few minutes he flew away hoping that Lance and Keith let their guards down. Luckily it seemed like that’s just what happened to Keith and he was able to slap him on his lower back. He groaned but smirked when he noticed Hunk and Pidge still flying away from them. He quickly took chase away from him after the two. Shiro took the opportunity to fly over to Lance who seemed to be doing simple manoeuvres through the air.

“I’ve come to apologize for my betrayal,” he said overlapping his right wing over Lance’s left ones slightly. Lance’s regarded him slightly before nodding with mock approval.

“I guess you’re forgiven,” he said with a small smile. Shiro smiled back and whiffled to fly underneath Lance.

“Thank goodness, I don’t know what I would have done,” he said. He twisted and came up on Lance’s right side. Lance blushed and looked away at the horizon again. Without a second thought, Lance dove again and Shiro didn’t hesitate in following him. They folded in their wings and suddenly they were grasping each other’s arms and corkscrewing to the ground. They laughed and flew away from each other back into the sky and met up again. They flew around each other, ignoring the smirks they were getting from the others, enraptured instead with each other. The sun was setting before Keith interrupted them.

“I know you guys are in love but we should really head back,” he said with a playful smirk. Immediately they started sputtering out embarrassed excuses and denials.  

“Keep telling yourselves that guys,” he chuckled before turning serious and pointing a sharp finger at Shiro threateningly, “I better be your best man,” he growled and flew to meet back up with Hunk and Pidge. Shiro and Lance glanced at each other with hot faces and quickly turned away again to fly back to the hangers.

“Anyone else hungry?” Keith asked sitting back in the nest. There were various sounds of approval and agreement. Lance yawned and bundled his wings around him to cover him in warmth.

“I’m good, I’m just going to go to sleep now,” he responded closing his eyes. At the complete silence that greeted him, he peeked his eye open. Shiro, Hunk, Keith, and Pidge all stood with wide eyes and limp wings.

“Are you okay? What’s wrong?” He asked worriedly.

“You’re going to sleep here with us?” Pidge asked softly.

“Oh um yes I was going to. I don’t have to though, I can go back to my room!” He said waving his hands around nervously and struggled to stand, trying to untangle himself from his wings to stand.

“No!” Shiro cried making the others flinch. He walked forward with a nervous chirp and tried to get Lance to sit back down.

“We’re just happy that you want to spend the night here,” he explained frantically smoothing down Lance’s hair and feathers. Lance trilled and closed his eyes again, shortly slipping into a comfortable slumber.

* * *

At first, Lance didn’t know where he was. He was flying through dense fog and he wasn’t able to see anything at all. Slowly though, he began to see sparkling blue waters beneath him, familiar blue waters. With a start, he realized that he was flying over the private stretch of beach his family owned. He landed on one of the cliffs that overlooked the white sand beach with wide eyes.

“You looked spooked,” A voice said on his right. He flinched back and looked over to see his mamá looking back at him.

“Mamá,” he whispered tears coming to his eyes. She gave him a heartwarming smile and pulled him into a hug. He clutched to her shoulders and cried into her chest. “I miss you Mamá,” he sniffled. She pet his hair and pulled back his head to kiss him on the forehead.

“I know baby but I know that you are doing something incredible out there,” she said comforting him. She gestured back down to the beach where he could now see his family splashing around in the water and playing on the beach. He watched them soar out of the water into the air and dive back in without hesitation. He laughed when one of his cousins came splashing out with a large fish in his hands and he brought it to his uncle to skin and cook for them. With a hand on his jaw, she brought his attention back to her.

“Lance, honey, you don’t need to worry about us,” she said with a concerned expression, “and yes we miss you. We miss you so so much but we are okay,” she said, her voice breaking slightly in the middle.

Lance bit his lip and looked back down at them with a heavy heart. Space certainly wasn’t as horrible as he initially thought it would be. He found the freedom he wanted on Earth here. He found another group of people to call family. He might have even found love.

“I’m so proud of you, and I’m happy you could find people who love you as much as we do,” his mamá said suddenly drawing his attention back to her. She was looking down at the beach now and he followed her gaze. The paladins were landing on the beach and mingling with his family. Pidge and Hunk were playing with his younger cousins, providing a sort of entertainment for them. Keith stood with his uncle as he showed him how to skin the fish that was just caught. Shiro though, he looked lost. He twisted around as if looking for someone.

‘As if he was looking for me,’ Lance thought with a happy grin. Little did he know that’s exactly what he was doing. Shiro looked up at the cliff and his face brightened exponentially when he caught sight of the Rowan.

“Lance!” He called happily with a wave. Lance gulped and looked over at his mamá. She grinned broadly and gestured for his to go. Lance glanced back at him uncertainly and wrung his hands in front of him. His mamá huffed gaining his attention again.

“Lance, I know how long you’ve had a crush on that boy, go after him,” she said bluntly like always. Lance blushed and pouted at his mamá but obediently glided down to meet the black paladin.

“Um, hey Shiro,” he said with a smile.

“Lance?” He asked with a smile. Lance looked at him in confusion and looked around him.

“Uh, yes? What do you mean?” He asked looking at Shiro warily now. Shiro came forward and brushed his hand down Lance’s cheek softly. Lance gave him a shy smile and leaned slightly into the hand.

“Lance?” Shiro asked again quieter than before. Lance sighed and looked into Shiro’s eyes.

“Why do you keep asking me that?” he said. Shiro leaned forward and gently kissed his forehead. When he backed up, Lance’s face was once again covered in a blush and he was looking at Shiro with fond eyes.

“Lance, can you wake up?”

* * *

Lance blinked his eyes open coming face to face with Shiro. He shrieked and whipped his head forward connecting their heads with a loud crack. Shiro yelled and pressed a hand to his eye.

“OH FU-IDDLESTICKS!” He yelled in pain.

“Just say fuck Shiro,” Pidge muttered looking at him blankly.

“Fuck,” he grumbled rubbing his eye. Lance jumped forward with a cry.

“Oh Shiro, I am so sorry,” he said with tears in his eyes. Part of it from the pain of the hit, the other from the despair that he already lost his chance with Shiro.

“No, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have startled you like that!” He said, he gasped when he looked at Lance.

“Lance, your head, it’s bruised already,” he said gently touching the skin around it.

“Talk for yourself, you have a black eye,” he said with concern. After a moment the two of them burst out laughing and clutched on to each other’s arms to keep from falling over. Hunk leaned over to both Keith and Pidge.

“Do you think they have concussions or something?” He asked with a raised brow directed at the giggling paladins.

“Probably,” Keith replied.

“They’re probably fine,” Pidge said sitting down and covering herself in preparation to go to sleep. Keith did the same, leaving Hunk standing alone to look at them.

“What about Lance’s food?” He asked the two of them.

“Do you want to go over there and try to give it to him?” Pidge asked gesturing at the marks on both Shiro and Lance’s heads. Hunk quickly shook his head and sat down, abandoning the bowl of food goo just outside of the nest. Soon enough the only sounds that were heard were the quiet conversation between Lance and Shiro. Lance fell forward cuddled in Shiro’s wings and looked carefully over the bruise on his face. Shiro suddenly swiped his finger over it and then his own.

“Weird, black and blue, just like us,” Shiro said.

“A bruise, really?” He asked blandly. Shiro shrugged his shoulders.

“It could be nice,” He pouted. Lance raised his eyebrows and put on a disbelieving face.

“Yeah? How so?” He asked leaning back down on Shiro’s arm. Shiro thought for a moment with a hum.

“No matter how bad we’re beaten, we’ll always be together?” He suggested. Lance sighed and cuddled closer.

“Okay, that was pretty good,”


	3. Chapter 3

“Do you guys have everything you need?” Pidge asked. She and Keith helped Hunk load the last of the supplies into the yellow lion.

“Yup, I think that’s everything!” He said cheerfully looking at the crates of supplies and provisions stacked together.

“Except for Lance,” Keith said cheekily looking around the hanger for the blue paladin.

“I don’t blame him, he and Shiro are basically in the honeymoon phase of their bonding right now,” Hunk commented as they walked out of Yellow to stand in the hanger.

“I know, its weird though isn’t it?” Pidge asked. Hunk raised a brow at her in question.

“Him not being the clingy one,” She clarified. Before Hunk could answer her the hanger doors slid open and Lance and Shiro walked out and towards them. Lance was staring straight ahead, while Shiro trailed behind him, puppy eyes targeted towards him.

“Can’t you stay on the ship? We could send Keith or Pidge with Hunk?” Shiro’s suggestion met their ears and they sent a playful smirk towards Lance. He sighed but didn’t look annoyed towards the leader. He knew that he was just being protective of him. They stopped beside the three of them and Lance turned to Shiro with a fond look on his face but you could see the determination in his eyes.

“Babe, as much as I love you fawning over me like this; I’m still a paladin of Voltron and I still have to complete missions,” he sighed.

“Yes, but,” Shiro tried to intervene but Lance stopped him by pressing a finger to his lips.

“Nope, besides its just a supply run mission, what could possibly go wrong?” he asked smoothing his palm down the side of Shiro’s face. He pouted at him but pressed his cheek into the hand.

“Alright, we’ll be on standby until the two of you get back, call if you need anything,” he relented holding both of his hands in his own.

“Okay, I’ll be back soon,” Lance promised before dragging the man down and pecking him on the lips. He turned and hurried into the lion after Hunk. Keith, Pidge, and Shiro waved at the lion as it shot down the tunnel towards the exit.

“Let’s go,” Pidge grunted dragging Shiro in the direction of the bridge.

“I’m coming,” he laughed letting her drag him away by the sleeve.

* * *

“Wow,” Lance breathed watching the scenery unfold in front of them. He leaned over the back of Hunk’s chair to look at the sparkling blue water fly underneath them.

“They didn’t tell us it would be so pretty,” Hunk said amazed. In the distance, they could see the city coming closer. At first glance it looked like an ordinary city, houses and building lined up on streets, but as they got closer they noticed an enormous temple towering behind the city in the distance.

“Whoa, what the heck is that?” Lance asked staring at the structure.

“Maybe they worship Gods? Like in Greece and stuff?” Hunk suggested. Lance shrugged and leaned back.

“Oh hey, look,” Hunk said drawing his attention back over. He could see several little figures waving at the lion as they drew nearer. In fact it looked like a line of them, leading them into the centre of the city.

“I guess we know where we’re landing,” they followed the line and ended up closer to the end of the city in front of the temple. Carefully, Hunk touched down and opened Yellow’s jaw to allow the locals to begin unloading the supplies in it’s mouth. As they walked past the supplies they each picked up a crate and carried it out. Hunk hefted one up and walked out, while Lance tried to find one that wouldn’t be too wide for his arms.

“Yellow Paladin! I am Pyro,” One of them came up to him cheerfully. By the shiny headpiece on him, he assumed that he was the leader. He came up to Hunk and gave him a small bow. Hunk’s feathers ruffled up slightly in embarrassment because of the greeting but gave him a small nod and smile.

“Thank you so much for these supplies, I don’t know how much longer we would have lasted without them,” he said gratefully. Hunk flushed when he realized that the alien was unabashedly staring at his wings.

“Um, are you okay?” He asked the leader hesitantly. At that Pyro’s eyes snapped back to Hunk’s and he gave him a wide smile.

“Yes, I apologize. On this planet, beings with wings are a symbol of divinity,” he explained.

“Oh, wow, it’s completely normal on Earth that people have wings,”

“Incredible,” he said amazed. “Where is your partner? I thought there was going to be two of you,” he asked looking around in confusion.

“Oh, Lance was grabbing crates, I thought he would be out by now though,” he said scratching the back of his head. He looked back towards Yellow and his eyes widened in shock. Two of the locals were dragging a limp Lance out of the lion by his arms, he could see his wings twitching and there was a shiny crystal wrapping around all four of them at the base.

“Lance!” He cried running forward, Pyro following behind him.

“What is the meaning of this?” Pyro yelled enraged at the two aliens.

“Leader, look at this,” one of them said, he lifted the top two away to part from the bottom two. At this, he gasped and slammed a hand on Hunk’s shoulder stopping him in his tracks with a grunt.

“He’s been corrupted,” he stated panicked pulling Hunk away from Lance.

“What? No, what are you talking about?” Hunk asked but was ignored by Pyro.

“Bring him up to the temple we will purify him,” he commanded the two. They nodded and turned towards the marble stairs.

“Wait no! What are you doing!” Hunk lashed out, concerned for his friend. Pyro turned to him, pity shining in his eyes.

“Oh dear, he has corrupted you as well, you must be separated,” he said gently. Hunk’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion and went to defend him further but before he could get a word out, a hand snuck out from behind him and sprayed a gas in his face. Immediately his eyes started slipping closed, even as he stumbled forward in an attempt to get to his friend. Through the fog in his mind, he could see that Lance was being dragged up the marble staircase.

“Take good care of him, he is one of our saviours,” he heard Pyro’s voice say before everything went completely black.

* * *

With a loud yell, Hunk sat up on the soft bed he was laying on.

“Yellow Paladin,” a soft voice said beside him. He glanced to the side and saw one of the aliens standing beside the bed.

“Where am I? Where’s Lance?” He demanded standing up grabbing the aliens by the arms.

“You are in our healing building,” the alien said kindly. “I believe Lance is the one who has been corrupted, he is at the temple being purified,”

“What? How long have I been asleep?” He asked panicked. He looked out the window but it didn’t look like much time had passed since they arrived on the planet.

“It’s been a few dobashes since you’ve been brought here, our gases only last a short time, we believe in diplomacy over warfare so we have no need for weapons,” she explained with a small smile.

“Yet you drag away one of the paladins of Voltron?” Hunk asked incredulously. Her face hardened slightly before she sighed.

“Your paladin has been corrupted and needs to be purified,”

“What do you mean corrupted?”

“As you know being that have been gifted with wings are seen as a symbol of divinity,” Hunk nodded his head, Pyro had explained that to him.

“However, when a being has four wings they have obviously been affected by greed and have gone to evil beings to gain more than they have been gifted with,” she said with a small grimace on her face.

“These beings have been corrupted by evil and must be purified as soon as possible,”

“Purified?” Hunk asked hesitantly. He wasn’t sure if he really wanted to know but Lance was probably depending on him right now.

“In order to purify them, they must cut off the wings of the affected, when that has been done, they see the errors of their ways and they are cured of their greed,” she said with a small. Hunk’s eyes widened in horror as he stared at her. At that moment, all he wanted was to call the Castle but he knew that if he did so, this alien would probably alert whoever had Lance.

“I think I understand,” Hunk said instead. The alien gave him a beaming smile in return, how could she be smiling when Lance could be losing his newly found freedom.

“I’m sorry but could you leave me alone for now, I have a lot to process,”

“Oh, yes, of course!” She said a blush on her face. She hurriedly left the room, sending a single glance back before she shut the door behind her. As soon as he couldn’t hear her footsteps anymore, he snatched his helmet off the table beside the bed and opened the coms.

“Guys, you need to get down here now,” he said urgently, not wasting his time on a greeting.

“What? What’s happening?” Pidge’s voice asked. He heard shuffling around, he assumed it was the others shoving their helmets onto their heads.

“Are you guys alright?” Keith asked.

“No, you guys need to come down here, Lance is in danger,” he cried clapping his hands to the sides of his helmet.

“Whats happening?” Shiro demanded.

“They believe that people with four wings are evil, they trying to purify him! They’re going to cut off his wings! They won’t let me out, I can’t get to him,” he sobbed in panic.

“We’re on our way Hunk!” Pidge called, he could hear their rapid footsteps and slipped down to the floor.

“Please hurry, I don’t know how long he has,”

* * *

He didn’t really remember how he got here. All that he can really recall is a sweet smell and then nothing. He blearily blinked open his eyes and realized that he was staring at the ground. He shivered and realized that he had been stripped down to the waist and his helmet was gone. When he lifted his head slightly, all he could see was a clear sky.

A white cloth was cutting into the sides of his mouth, condemning him to silence. Thick binds kept him painfully kneeling on the hard floor with his wrists attached close to the ground.

“Blue Paladin, you’re awake,” Pyro said walking in front of him. He gave him a smile filled with pity and knelt on the ground in front of him.

“Don’t worry, we are going to save you,” he reassured him. He looked behind him and nodded his head. Hands grabbed at his wings, pulling feathers out in the process and spreading them out wide, away from each other. Although he didn’t want to hurt them, he allowed his feathers to change into razors but unlike the panic he thought there would be, nothing happened. He looked to the side and saw one of the aliens holding his wing with crystal coated hands.

“Be calm, you have saved us, now it is our turn to save you,” Pyro said kindly. Lance shook his head frantically. He tried to pull his wings back toward him but the hold on them was too strong. His attention was pulled away when Pyro dumped a bucket full of what seemed to be water on top of his head. He coughed out through the cloth and looked up at him.

“Let’s begin,” he smiled. Lance’s eyes widened as he opened a book and lead the five aliens into a chant around him. After every few lines, Pyro would splash more water on him. The first time was cold enough, but by the fifth wave of water, he was trembling violently. Frustrated tears started cutting through the water as he tried to tug his arms up to hug himself for warmth. It felt like hours had gone by before, Pyro closed the book he was holding and looked down at Lance with some sort of sympathy.

“You are here today in our sacred temple for disgracing the gift you were given,” Pyro started.

Gift? What gift? His wings?

“For your greed, we must now take away the gifts you have been given, only then with you be cleansed,” he continued, either not noticing or ignoring Lance’s panic.

Greed!? All he’s ever wanted was to just be accepted!

“Nonus, stretch out his wing, it’s time to begin,” he stated, from his belt he pulled a long serrated blade. At the sight, Lance started pulling at the binds attaching himself to the floor.

“I apologize Blue Paladin, this will hurt,” he said somewhat soothingly, smoothing his hand through Lance’s hair. Of course, this didn’t deter Lance and he kept lashing out at them. He felt a slight give in the hold on his left top wing and ripped it out of the hands. He used the now free wing to hit the bottom left alien and again until there was nothing keeping him captive. In his panic he forgot that he was still bound at the hands and tried to take off; only succeeding in making it a few inches off the ground before he snapped back to the ground. He groaned in pain and tugged at his wrists frantically, terrified tears in his eyes.

“We are losing him,” Pyro said. The aliens ran forward and grabbed his wings again, forcing them further apart. They pushed him to lay face first on the ground, smushing his cheek into the cold marble. The back two aliens kneeled on top of his legs, and the top two kneel on his biceps and shoulders. Pyro came forward again, making Lance let out a muffled sob against the gag. Terror gripped his heart when a new hand gripped his wing close to the base and a blade was pushed against his feathers.

“Not to worry Blue Paladin, you will be pure again soon,” Pyro tried. Lance only shook his head, tears rolling down his cheeks to drop onto the floor and soak into the gag. Lance squeezed his eyes closed, not wanting to see his wing fall to the ground, and waited for the pain to come.

It never did.

A loud angry shriek echoed through the temple before Pyro was launched away from Lance’s body and down the stairs of the temple stairs with a yell. His eyes snapped open and saw a very familiar boot standing beside his face. A glance upwards was all it took for him to burst into tears again. This time, happy ones.

“Black Paladin? What are you doing? We are purifying him right now,” one of the aliens tried to explain, not yet letting go of Lance’s wing. Shiro glared down at him and eyed the crystals that were holding onto the blue feathers.

“Let go of him,” he growled. He stared at each one of them. They glanced warily at him and each other.

“But, we were just-” they tried again before getting cut off by a furious paladin.

“I SAID LET GO OF HIM!” He roared. They quickly scrambled away from the two of them to follow their leader down the stairs. Shiro didn’t look away until they were gone for sure. In the new silence, it was easy to hear the sobs coming from the ground. His heart squeezed in pain as he sunk to the ground and cut the binds with his galra arm. He dragged Lance into his lap and gently undid the gag and threw it away.

“Are you okay, Lance?” He asked quietly, not worried about the locals anymore. Lance didn’t say anything, only pushed his head into the crook of his neck and bawled. He took big gulping breathes of air as he tried to control his breathing.

“Did you get him?” Keith’s voice came across the coms.

“Yes, we’re heading back now,” Shiro confirmed and carefully picked Lance up, “Hunk?” He asked as he began making his way down the stairs.

“We have him, he won’t stop crying though,” Pidge responded.

“We got Lance’s armour and helmet too, they brought them back down here,” Keith added.

Shiro smiled slightly but a sad wail from Lance knocked it right off of his face. He gave a comforting little chirp and smiled slightly when Lance responded with a quiet trill.

“You’re safe Lance, I’ve got you, love,” he whispered.

* * *

By the time Lance and Shiro arrived back at the Castle. Lance had calmed down enough to walk out on his own. Granted he was still shaking slightly, but considering he was splashed with freezing cold water and almost had his wings cut off, he had the right.

“Lance!” Hunk cried running towards the teen. Lance chuckled and opened his arms, letting Hunk crash into them.

“Hey Hunk, are you okay?” He asked concerned looking over him for any injuries. He looked at him in disbelief.

“Am I okay!? What about you? I heard what they were going to do, I-I couldn’t do anything,” he wailed clutching Lance to his chest tightly. Tears were rolling down his face in rivers and loud sobs heaved out of his chest.

“It’s not your fault Hunk,” Lance said softly, wrapping his arms around him.

“Did they hurt you anywhere?” Keith asked stepping up beside them.

“Besides splashing some cold water on me? No, I’m fine,” he stated rubbing his hands up and down Hunk’s back.

“I just want to go to sleep now,” he admitted. They glanced at each other and smiled.

“Sleepover in the nest?”Pidge suggested. They all nodded in agreement and Hunk untangled himself from around Lance. He sniffed and wiped the tears away from his face.

“I’ll go get some snacks,” he said running off.

“Blankets and pillows?” Pidge asked looking at Keith. He nodded and they turned away to go collect them.

“What should we bring?” Shiro asked, his hand making its way to Lance’s waist. Pidge turned and started walking backward.

“Yourselves, just relax, we got this,” she yelled back before they disappeared through the metal doors. After a few moments of silence, Lance turned to look up at Shiro.

“Thank you for rescuing me Shiro,” he said earnestly. Shiro smiled softly at him and kissed him on the top of the head.

“You don’t have to thank me for that, I would do anything for you,”

**Author's Note:**

> Come visit me at my Tumblr too!: https://blueplanettrash.tumblr.com/


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